Scaling my action with online tools

A few years ago, my own limits became clear. Work was overwhelming me – too many tasks, too many people involved. I wasn’t doing a great job at following up on projects.
The book Getting Things Done got me to realise that there are certain things a brain isn’t wired to do properly. That included memorising information, especially lots of bits and pieces of data. Instead, we’re naturally good at processing and making decisions.

Reflecting on this, I agreed that I wouldn’t bet on my good memory to do a good job. What I could work on though, was to set up a tool to help me save information – while I could process it and execute. Todoist was the right tool for me and set it up carefully maintained to do what was needed. Nothing new here, I followed most of the GTD methodologies.

On any given day, my tasks are stored and updated on Todoist. I can’t possibly tell you what I am working on without looking at it. While that sounds scaring, it helps me focus on what I have to do right now. I have a clear, uncluttered mind and never worry about missing something ever again. That allows me to take on more work and scale myself.

Over time, Todoist became “what I have to do.” I added Evernote to my workflow as “what I have to remember.” Evernote contains my meeting minutes, on-going project updates, random and crazy ideas, and more. Leveraging this platform liberated me at an even bigger level. I can focus on being present in the moment but pick the right information needed any time of the day.

My next frontier is now adding Cloze.com as “who I know.” It sounds strange but as part of this memory-not-good situation, I realised how bad I was at staying in touch with my network. Cloze helps me stay in touch with wonderful people and doing this at scale.

Have you considered relying on tools and software to fill some of your challenges? I’d love to read how was your experience.

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Matthieu Bodin

Matthieu Bodin is an entrepreneur and community builder.
After 9 years in Hong Kong and Shanghai, he moved to Amsterdam with his wife and baby girl!
View all posts by Matthieu Bodin